Nadir: A Grimdark Deckbuilder
- February 6, 2023
- Team Nadir
- 5h median play time
Get on Steam"Nadir: A Grimdark Deckbuilder" is a single-player Role Playing game with exceptional mechanics and amazing graphics. In this rogue-like adventure, inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, command an avatar of a Deadly Sin in 1v1 fights against powerful demons. Create unique double cards by collecting red and blue abilities, expand your city and unlock new characters, cards, and vendors for your underworld kingdom.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Unique card mechanics that allow players to influence enemy actions, adding a strategic layer to combat.
- Visually striking art style and atmosphere that enhances the overall experience.
- Engaging deck-building elements with the ability to craft and modify cards, providing depth to gameplay.
- Feels unfinished with limited content, lacking variety in cards and enemy types, leading to repetitive gameplay.
- Gameplay can be slow and drawn out, with some mechanics feeling clunky and unpolished.
- Numerous bugs and balancing issues, including unclear mechanics and frustrating UI elements.
- gameplay104 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its unique mechanics and artistic style but criticizing its execution and depth. While some find the combat and deckbuilding elements engaging, others describe the gameplay as repetitive, unbalanced, and lacking strategic depth, leading to a sense of boredom over time. Overall, the game is seen as having potential but needing further refinement and polish to fully realize its innovative concepts.
“The gameplay loop was crisp, and because of the entropic nature of which cards you would draw, it stays fresh.”
“The mechanics are interesting, and they are different enough to call it innovation.”
“Overall, the mechanics are fun and the game looks and plays great.”
“I really like the concept and art of this game, but the gameplay and mechanics leave a lot to be desired.”
“The core mechanics feel uninspired and shallow, resulting in repetitive and monotonous gameplay loops that quickly grow tiresome.”
“Despite the effort put into it, it's lacking in mechanical depth, personality, polish, and narrative.”
- graphics49 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are frequently praised for their unique and captivating art style, which many players find to be the most appealing aspect. However, there are notable criticisms regarding the overall polish and execution, with some users describing the visuals as feeling unfinished or lacking in detail, particularly in animations and UI elements. While the aesthetic is a strong point, it is often overshadowed by gameplay issues and a lack of content, leaving players hopeful for future improvements.
“A hellbound deck builder with a killer art style, a gloomy soundtrack, and a few fun twists to the genre - like collecting the shriveled heads of iconic historical figures.”
“Nadir undoubtedly boasts a visually unique art style that initially captivates the senses.”
“With its interesting and well-done grimdark art style, it's competent UI/tutorialization, solid meta-progression, and uniqueness to each run, this game is definitely a must-experience for those in love with the genre.”
“The artwork on the cards sucks as well.”
“Visually there is a problem with the hub icons being over the artwork.”
“Currently the animations are slow and minimal, the information displayed is a bit obscure, the translations are not great, and the UI/graphics feel unpolished.”
- story12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game's story is largely criticized for its absence, with players noting that while the art and mechanics are appealing, they lack a cohesive narrative or character development. Despite some interesting features and lore elements, the overall execution feels incomplete, leaving players wanting more depth and storytelling to enhance the experience. Many reviewers express hope for future updates that could introduce a more substantial story mode.
“You know how the cards in MTG have flavor text at the bottom and you can piece together a story (a whole different universe actually) if you read enough of them?”
“Cool game, great concept, wicked art, I like the lore (not really any story but that's cool for this style of game), and they found a way to make a roguelike game feel unique from the others.”
“Love the vibe and the aesthetic, looking forward to more story/content.”
“There is no story and the mechanics get boring fast.”
“There's no story so you do stuff just because, and the game ends with a 'to be announced'.”
“The characters you play as have little personality besides a text backstory.”
- music10 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 10 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players appreciate the moody and atmospheric soundtrack that enhances the game's theme, others find it bland and unengaging, leading them to mute the audio or prefer their own playlists. Overall, the soundtrack is noted for its tension and complementing the art style, but it lacks variety and excitement for some players.
“A hellbound deck builder with a killer art style, a gloomy soundtrack, and a few fun twists to the genre - like collecting the shriveled heads of iconic historical figures.”
“Nice moody soundtrack complements the atmosphere.”
“Music: pretty good.”
“Background music is a little bland - after the first run, I ended up muting the audio.”
“Not much in the music department, but you can just listen to your own if you want.”
“Just have Spotify on standby because the soundtrack is beyond boring.”
- grinding8 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 88 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be repetitive and tedious, particularly when it comes to resource collection and tech tree progression. While some enjoy the game's premise and base building, many feel that the late-game grinding can detract from the overall experience, making it feel like a chore rather than an engaging challenge.
“The base building is nice too, and overall it's not too grindy.”
“Very repetitive and grindy to collect everything, and it quickly becomes a tiresome chore to get resources. I just wanted to be done with it.”
“Warning, it is very grindy as to progress the tech tree, you need to obtain a lot of materials from winning battles.”
“Progression feels tedious.”
- stability7 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and stuttering issues that contribute to an unfinished feel. Many players express disappointment that these problems persist in the full release, suggesting it resembles an early access title rather than a polished product. Overall, the stability issues significantly detract from the gaming experience.
“A buggy, unfinished feeling mess which I was surprised to see is the full release and not early access.”
“It's got a decent progression system that is definitely intriguing, but the game is so buggy right now it's hard to enjoy.”
“Several mechanics and achievements are buggy, the game sometimes stutters, and there are several embarrassing grammatical errors.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is generally praised for its great art, moody soundtrack, and immersive lore, which collectively enhance the overall experience. However, some users feel that certain elements detract from this atmosphere, suggesting a mixed reception.
“Great art and atmosphere!”
“Nice moody soundtrack complements the atmosphere.”
“I love the atmosphere and all of the themes, and all of the little info given about certain lore aspects really immerses me into the experience.”
“This destroys what little atmosphere the game has, and that's all this game would otherwise have.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game offers limited replayability compared to other titles in the genre, though it remains engaging enough for a single playthrough. The inclusion of procedurally generated runs adds some variety, enhancing the experience for players who enjoy exploring different outcomes.
“Procedurally generated runs; another staple of the roguelite genre, but as always, it enhances the replayability of each run a bit, so it's nice to see here.”
“Not nearly as replayable as many other entries in the genre, but interesting enough to see each thing once.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -150 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is criticized for being unfinished and lacking clarity, leading to a disconnection from the deck optimization options. Players feel there are no effective mechanical cues to guide them in building their decks, resulting in a frustrating experience.
“The deck optimization options offered are intriguing, but I feel detached from them due to a lack of subtle mechanical nudges to guide my build or clear indications of what might be considered redundant or in need of improvement.”
“The optimization mechanics provide a unique challenge, encouraging players to think critically about their strategies and adapt their builds effectively.”
“I appreciate the depth of the optimization system, which allows for a variety of playstyles and encourages experimentation with different deck configurations.”
“Honestly, he was fun to try out once, but not worth playing with the unfinished and unoptimized gameplay.”
“As a result, I feel detached from the deck optimization options offered, with no subtle mechanical nudges to steer me in a direction for my build, or a clear clue on what might be considered redundant or an improvement.”
- character development2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Character development is hindered by a broken development tree and various bugs, including card typos and animation lag during fights. While the character designs are charming and the environments are beautifully detailed, these technical issues detract from the overall experience.
“The hand-drawn environments are intricately detailed, and the character designs possess a certain charm.”
“His character development tree is broken, and he has more card typos ("apply 1 intimidation/panic to the enemy...") and at least one bugged card (abuse text says "replace 1 card" but fails to do so).”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express a lack of emotional engagement with the game, citing that card combos and upgrades feel unworthy of pursuit, and the complexity of spiraling levels detracts from enjoyment. While the boy red combo is seen as a promising concept, it ultimately becomes cumbersome, overshadowing the game's fun visuals and appealing price.
“Good gameplay, fun visuals, wholesome sale price”
- humor2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that while the game incorporates humorous elements, they often feel out of place within its grim dark setting. Additionally, some users have noted that UI bugs can contribute to a comedic experience, albeit unintentionally.
“The humorous elements feel oddly placed in such a grim dark world, creating a unique contrast that adds to the experience.”
“The game has a delightful sense of humor that keeps the atmosphere light, even in tense moments.”
“I love how the witty dialogue and funny character interactions bring a refreshing twist to the gameplay.”
